thisistheROCK

In today's world, it's normal for people to live their lives overwhelmed, unfulfilled and unhappy. We label this as normal. The truth of the matter is that as followers of Jesus, we are called to live a different way. In our series, Weird, we'll learn the simple truth that if we want what normal people have, then we do what normal people do but if we want what few people have, then we need to do what few people do. Since normal isn’t working, that means we need to get weird!

We discovered how God is calling us to be a God kind of weird last week and we are going to see how weird is a better way to live this week! There is always pressure from our world to conform to the norm. We are pressured to talk, act and dress the same. These pressures show us two reasons that people don’t live out a God kind of weird. The first is an inward pull which is our need to please. The second is an outward pull which is our fear of persecution. However, we have to understand that when we’re weird, we can’t please everyone, but we can please God.

In today's world, it's normal for people to live their lives overwhelmed, unfulfilled and unhappy. We label this as normal. The truth of the matter is that as followers of Jesus, we are called to live a different way. In our series, Weird, we'll learn the simple truth that if we want what normal people have, then we do what normal people do but if we want what few people have, then we need to do what few people do. Since normal isn’t working, that means we need to get weird!

We kick off our series tonight by seeing that there are different kinds of weird. There is a bad weird and there is a God weird. We are called to be a God kind of weird. We'll use Matthew 7:13-14 as our theme verse throughout the series which shows us that weird people travel down the narrow path. We want students to see that to be weird, we need to think differently and live differently. God has so much more for us if we’re willing to embrace a weird life. The goal for tonight is that students will wrestle with how God is leading them to be a God kind of weird!

Friends are an essential part of life. We need them to thrive. In fact, God has created us to be in community and with friends. Friends love you at your worst and can help you be your best, but many of us don’t realize the importance of the people we choose to surround ourselves with. The friends you have help determine the quality and direction of our life. Where are our friendships leading us? In this series, we will discuss what is needed to have the kind of friendships that God wants us to have.

This week we look at two things we can’t let our friends do to us and one thing that we won’t stop doing. This message is centered around the simple concept that despite the impact our friends have on our future, we can’t ignore the people in our lives who don’t know Jesus. Therefore, we want our students to understand that they can’t let their friends distract them from following God’s plan and they can’t let their friends tempt them to sin. Despite their desire for good friends, they have to love people with the unconditional love of Christ. This is a non-negotiable as followers of Jesus… even with our friends!

Friends are an essential part of life. We need them to thrive. In fact, God has created us to be in community and with friends. Friends love you at your worst and can help you be your best, but many of us don’t realize the importance of the people we choose to surround ourselves with. The friends you have help determine the quality and direction of our life. Where are our friendships leading us? In this series, we will discuss what is needed to have the kind of friendships that God wants us to have.

This week we’ll discover the kind of friends that we all need to have. We'll look at the life of David and see that David had three friends in his life that helped him to be known as a man after God's own heart (Acts 13:22). David had Samuel, who was a friend that made him better (1 Samuel 16:12-13). David had Jonathan, who was a friend who helped him find spiritual strength (1 Samuel 23:15-16). David also had Nathan, who was a friend that told him the truth (2 Samuel 12:7). Students understand that they will never become who God wants them to be if they don’t surround themselves with the right friends.

Friends are an essential part of life. We need them to thrive. In fact, God has created us to be in community and with friends. Friends love you at your worst and can help you be your best, but many of us don’t realize the importance of the people we choose to surround ourselves with. The friends you have help determine the quality and direction of our life. Where are our friendships leading us? In this series, we will discuss what is needed to have the kind of friendships that God wants us to have.

We kick off our series by discussing the friend that we need to be. Before they can FIND the right friends, they need to BE the right friend. We are going to look at two requirements for being a good friend. The first is the need to be present. Good friendships need to be face to face and not thumbs to thumbs. The second is the need to be open. We might impress people with our strengths but we connect with people by sharing our weaknesses! There is truth in the saying, show me your friends and I’ll show you your future.

Listen to this week's message to learn how you can be wise, and not dumb, when it comes to your heart!

Listen to this week as one of our summer interns, Trey Richman, tells us how we can be wise, and not dumb, when it comes to temptation.

Listen to this week's message to learn how you can be wise, and not dumb, when it comes to the money you have, make and spend!

Have you ever been in conflict with someone? Listen to this week's message to learn how you can be wise, and not dumb, when it comes to conflict.

Listen as Zeek Lipsey, one of our summer interns explains how you can be wise, and not dumb, when it comes to your speech!